The punches thrown, some below the belt, at Park City Councilor Ryan Dickey as the developers’ pawn may not be landing so well as hoped.
It’s tough to tag him this way when he voted against Studio Crossing, the largest of the developments rising out of the ground now. He voted against the infamous Dakota Pacific. Also against the expansion of The Outlets, Highland Flats and a host of other such proposals while on the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission.
So a whole edifice of innuendo as a lackey has big cracks in its factual foundation and can easily be seen for the heated cheese product it really is.
With real issues to consider, why are some trying so hard to make this fiction stick?
He did vote for Mine Bench affordable housing, Clark Ranch affordable housing, and the EngineHouse affordable housing project that’s nearly completed now. He was the City Council’s liaison for the committee made up of Old Town business leaders and residents that came up with a controversial concept for a revitalized Main Street, including hotels. He did negotiate for the city, along with then-Councilor Max Doilney, the public-private partnership that the full council unanimously approved with Deer Valley Resort for Snow Park’s renovation with each contributing $15 million for traffic solutions.
These open Dickey to legitimate criticism concerning development, at least having the benefit of truth. Ironically in this context, he probably should have voted for Studio Crossing, which will accomplish some of the city’s affordable housing aims at a fraction of what Mine Bench would have cost the city, or what the 12-acre hillside just beyond Park City Heights would cost, or the cost of EngineHouse.
Much more effective for Jack Rubin supporters is their judo move to recast Dickey’s endorsements from all of Park City’s mayors since 1990 as the kiss of death, given the state of the community today.
What is the state of the community today? Great question. While hardly the hellscape described in some letters to the editor, there is fertile ground for the argument that the city is less than it was and less than it could be — and that this has to be the mayors of yore’s fault.
The community is getting way too crowded, way too expensive and welcomes way too many strangers on vacation, especially in lift lines. This has long been the lament of locals nostalgic for whenever it was they moved in.
Never mind that Park City hasn’t grown since 2020. The full-time population has shrunk by over 3% since then. Same with Summit County. We’re really all still lamenting the 16% spike in residents between 2010 and 2020, and more so for what we think we see coming.
The latest community survey results bear out our schizophrenia. Scores on lifestyle and Park City’s appeal top the charts in satisfaction. We love our town, no question. This really is the greatest place on Earth, according to us.
But we also are very concerned about the direction of the municipal government. It’s made all the wrong choices. Everything’s a mess. The city is going to hell in a hand basket. Who can stand to live here?
I’m exaggerating both ways, though not by much. It’s of little comfort that communities’ feelings toward their municipal governments across America have degraded, in part a consequence of national politics and yeah, the rise of reliance on social media for information. That stream is polluted to a point real news posted there smells like the rest of the drifting offal.
There’s also plenty to pick out among the Sundance Film Festival and Kimball Art Center abandoning Park City; paralysis on what to do on historic Main Street as its business shows signs of fading against the rise of other retail/entertainment centers; stalemate at Bonanza Park, including the city-owned 5-Acre Site, continuing on and on and on; the dominant use of home ownership for short-term rentals and very part-time residence; a homegrown workforce dwindled down to just 12% of residents who work in town, everyone else commuting in and out; and of course, a place priced out for all but the 1%.
And so on. It’s not like we don’t have issues. I’m not sure why more needed inventing for the sake of a mayoral election.
Complaining is easy, though. Blaming others even easier. What are we doing about it? By that I mean voters, also noting that over half of those eligible to cast ballots in this election won’t bother. Anything over a 40% turnout will be considered fabulous.
At least during election season, we expect the mayor to fix all this. But they don’t have a magic wand, never mind so much as a vote on the council except in the rarest circumstances. They pretty much just kiss babies, make speeches and set the agenda for council meetings while keeping the sessions on track. I confess wonder at who could possibly want a hobby like that — the pay certainly isn’t worth the headache.
Nonetheless, we’re fortunate to have two solid, well-qualified choices, neither an actual patsy for developers. Reading under the words, the predictable campaign arguments that outsider challengers and veterans of a council will invariably make, the good news is the city won’t really buckle if one or the other wins.
Some affordable housing may go here instead of there, open space will continue, the senior center will get built, something eventually will replace the wasteland known as the 5-Acre Site, and the rest of Bonanza Park will wind up renovated (or not) in some fashion half the town will hate. Main Street will trundle on, changes cosmetic and incremental at best by the look of it, and continue fading, whoever the mayor is.
The most value in the moment, a contested race, is that residents are talking about this stuff in (mostly) constructive ways, though shame on you if you swallow anything you see on a social media feed.
Still, I’m curious about the relative silence over what mayors have the most sway over and can vote on. Curious because it’s the most consequential decision a council and mayor possibly could make.
The city manager is the anchor, the glue, the key to everything. Mayors and councils come and go. A city manager sets the very cornerstone for what the city does or doesn’t do.
The next mayor will have the most to say about who becomes the next city manager, appointing their top candidate and voting in this one case. Shouldn’t we be talking about this fact, even a little bit?
Don Rogers is the editor and publisher of The Park Record. He can be reached at [email protected] or (970) 376-0745.